Anti-piracy vs anti-censorship

Last week, anti-piracy group BREIN demanded that Greenhost take the proxy offline. However, the hosting company refused, saying RePress unblocked a range of sites and was not designed to specifically unlock The Pirate Bay. It said it would only comply if presented with a court order.

On July 6, the Court of The Hague issued an ex-parte injunction and gave Greenhost six hours to take down all the proxies through which the public can access The Pirate Bay. The company faced a 1,000 euro fine per day if it did not comply.

"This plugin allows people who live in dictatorships such as China or Iran to still access the open Internet. This is vital in a society that is increasingly dependent on digital resources," wrote Greenhost director Sacha van Geffen in his response to BREIN.

Response awaited

RePress posted on its website on Friday saying the court decision has been made ex-parte, without rebuttal from the hosting provider or the proxy service.

Greenhost says it is amazed that the BREIN foundation's request for a specific copyright infringement to designate the site was passed.

The company promised to issue a substantive response, and consider whether there are legal steps to be taken.

The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde took to Twitter to lambast the ruling. Among the colourful language in his tweet he also wrote: "The UN just signed papers against this."